Subscribe FAINT NEW RING DISCOVERED AROUND URANUS
Dec 22, 2005
BERKELEY, Calif. (December 22nd, 2005) Astronomers have made the first ground-based observations of one of two new rings discovered recently around the planet Uranus by the Hubble Space Telescope and announced today. The ground-based detection was conducted with the Near Infrared Camera (NIRC2)...
PRECURSOR TO PROTEINS AND DNA FOUND IN STELLAR DISK
Dec 20, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (December 20th, 2005) Astronomers at W. M. Keck Observatory have found – for the first time – some of the basic compounds necessary to build organic molecules and one of the bases found in DNA within the inner regions of a planet-forming disk. The object, known as “IRS...
HIGH RES IMAGES OF GALACTIC CENTER
Dec 12, 2005
UCLA PRESS RELEASE (December 12th, 2005) UCLA astronomers and colleagues published the first high-resolution images of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, including the area surrounding the supermassive black hole, using a new technology at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. “Everything is...
NEW RESULTS SHOW EXPANSION RATE OF THE UNIVERSE IS INCREASING
Nov 22, 2005
CALTECH PRESS RELEASE (November 22nd, 2005) Based on an ongoing study of exploding stars in the distant universe, astrophysicists have concluded that the effect of the “dark energy” that is speeding up the expansion of the universe is within 10 percent of that of Albert Einstein’s celebrated...
KECK RELEASES DATA OF GAMMA RAY BURST 051111
Nov 16, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (November 16th, 2005) Spectral data of gamma-ray burst GRB 051111 were collected with the Keck I telescope on November 11, 2005 (UT). The data is available to the public at: GRB 051111 Data (compressed file) Astronomer Jason X. Prochaska of UC Santa Cruz determined that the...
HUDSON FOUNDATION INVESTS $75,000 IN W. M. KECK OBSERVATORY
Nov 7, 2005
KAMUELA, Hawaii (November 7th, 2005) The W. M. Keck Observatory received a grant of $75,000 from the M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Foundation to improve astronomy research and technology. The grant will support three programs at Keck Observatory: $28,000 for a summit employee breakfast program, $25,000...
MOON DISCOVERED ORBITING 10th PLANET (2003 UB313)
Oct 3, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (October 3rd, 2005) Scientists are over the moon at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the California Institute of Technology over a new discovery of a satellite orbiting the Solar System’s 10th planet (2003 UB313). The newly discovered moon orbits the farthest object ever seen in...
MILESTONE FOR KECK INTERFEROMETER
Sep 29, 2005
JPL PRESS RELEASE (September 29th, 2005) Are we alone in the universe? Are there planets like Earth around other “suns” that might harbor life? Thanks to a recent technology breakthrough on a key NASA planet-finding project, the dream of answering those questions is no longer light-years...
RESULTS FROM ‘DEEP IMPACT’ MISSION: MAUNA KEA’S GIANT EYES REUNITE COMET FAMILIES
Sep 15, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (September 15th, 2005) When NASA’s Deep Impact mission ploughed into comet 9P/Tempel 1 on July 4th of this year, the giant telescopes on Mauna Kea had a unique view of the massive cloud of dust, gas and ice expelled during the collision. A series of coordinated observations,...
DEBBIE GOODWIN APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT
Aug 8, 2005
KAMUELA, Hawaii (August 8th, 2005) Debbie Goodwin has been named director of advancement at the W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii Island. Ms. Goodwin was most recently the Interim Director of Advancement for Humboldt State University. The W. M. Keck Observatory established a development office in...
RECORD OF DECISION ISSUED FOR OUTRIGGER TELESCOPE PROJECT
Aug 5, 2005
WASHINGTON, D. C. (August 5th, 2005) NASA has released its Record of Decision concerning the Outrigger Telescopes Project, selecting the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea as the site for the project. In its decision, NASA states: “No alternate site matches the scientific capability of the W. M....
PUBLIC INVITED TO DEEP IMPACT
Jul 3, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (July 3rd, 2005) For the first time ever, the W. M. Keck Observatory will let the public “eavesdrop” on actual observations as they come in from Deep Impact, a NASA Discovery Mission and the first to go to a comet. The event will provide a rare opportunity for the public to share...
KECK FINDS FIRST LARGE ROCKY PLANET FOUND OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Jun 13, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (June 13th, 2005) Data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory has resulted in the discovery of the most earth-like world to ever be discovered—but it’s not likely to hold that record for long. The discovery centers around the smallest extrasolar planet to ever be discovered and...
HOT ON THE TRAIL OF NATURE’S EXOTIC FLASHERS
May 31, 2005
Minneapolis, Minnesota (May 31st, 2005) Astronomers have uncovered tantalizing insight into the origin of short gamma-ray bursts, a mysterious class of high-energy transients that have eluded detail study until now. Unlike their long-duration cousins, which are known to arise when massive young...
ANDROMEDA GALAXY THREE TIMES BIGGER IN DIAMETER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
May 30, 2005
206th AAS MEETING (May 30th, 2005) The lovely Andromeda galaxy appeared as a warm fuzzy blob to the ancients. To modern astronomers millennia later, it appeared as an excellent opportunity to better understand the universe. In the latter regard, our nearest galactic neighbor is a gift that keeps on...
FIRST-EVER INFRARED FLASH CHALLENGES OLD NOTION OF NATURE’S BIGGEST BANG
May 11, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (May 11th, 2005) The W. M. Keck Observatory has helped confirm a big discovery by an unassumingly small robotic telescope in Arizona. The first infrared flash found during a gamma-ray burst, one of nature’s brightest explosions, looked much like a low energy version of the burst...
KECK AND SPITZER FIND FIRST STARS IN DISTANT GALAXIES
Apr 2, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (April 2nd, 2005) Astronomers have used the Keck, Spitzer and Hubble telescopes to catch the light coming from the first stars to form in some of the most distant galaxies yet seen. Dr. Andrew Bunker of the University of Exeter announced the results show the formation of the first...
KECK IMAGES OF TITAN BEFORE THIRD CASSINI FLY-BY
Feb 16, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (February 16th, 2005) Images of Titan taken February 15, 2005 just 23 minutes before the Cassini spacecraft’s third flyby of the moon. In this near-infrared color composite image taken with the Keck II telescope and adaptive optics system, Titan’s surface appears red, while haze...
SATURN’S STRANGE HOT SPOT
Feb 4, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (February 4th, 2005) Astronomers using the Keck I telescope in Hawaii are learning much more about a strange, thermal “hot spot” on Saturn that is located at the tip of the planet’s south pole. In what the team is calling the sharpest thermal views of Saturn ever taken from the...
HUYGENS PROBE ARRIVES AT TITAN
Jan 14, 2005
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (January 14th, 2005) The Huygens probe impacted Titan’s atmosphere at 09:06 GMT Friday morning, with an expected landing on Titan’s mysterious surface three hours later. This near-infrared image shows Titan at the moment Huygens reached its target. “Although no disturbances in...
DIVINING THE SOURCE OF THE WATER-FOUNTAIN NEBULA
Jan 13, 2005
SAN DIEGO, California (January 13th, 2005) New, very high-resolution (false-color) images of a dying star IRAS16342-3814 (hereafter the Water-Fountain Nebula) taken with the Keck II Telescope equipped with adaptive optics, at the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, are helping astronomers...
KECK LASER CAPTURES NEW VIEW OF DISTANT COLLIDING GALAXIES
Jan 12, 2005
SAN DIEGO, California (January 12th, 2005) For the first time, astronomers have been able to combine the deepest optical images of the universe, obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, with equally sharp images in the near-infrared part of the spectrum using a sophisticated new laser guide star...
